Twins Out of Time
by fireandice722
Summary: What if Nora had a twin sister named Dawn? What happens when Iris hides who they are from them? What if the future of metahumans rested on the Westallen twins's shoulders? Alternate season 5, half in the future (2044), half in the present (2018).
1. Chapter 1

**Central City, June 2018**

Nora Allen paced outside of the West family home, her heart beating rapidly at what had just happened. She had failed to prevent her sister, Dawn, from changing the timeline, and she was at a loss at what to do. We never should have came here, she told herself frantically, trying to calm herself down, and failing miserably.

Indeed, the twins were in deep trouble, and it seemed that Nora was the only one who realized that meddling with time could have catastrophic butterfly effects. Frankly, she was afraid of what changes would happen to her life if she were to return to the future—or her present. Not that she could. She just wasn't fast enough, not without her sister, and she knew Dawn wasn't going to stop changing the timeline now that she has gotten a taste for "righting" the wrongs that had been done to her in the future—or their present. _Ugh this is confusing!_ Nora said to herself.

Having nowhere and no one to go to, Nora deduced that, while she was fairly good at solving her own problems, she wasn't going to figure out how to fix this colossal mess on her own. After failing to stop Dawn, Nora knew that what she was doing was sheerly hypocritical, but surely asking for Team Flash's help certainly couldn't be as bad as what other things Dawn could do, right?

Finally summing up the courage and self-assurance that asking for help was the best course of action, Nora knocked on the door and nearly jumped as she came face to face with her father for the first time in her life. He seemed perplexed, his facial expression showing that he recognized her to some extent, somehow. Her nerves kicked in, and she walked past him, her heart palpitating even faster now.

"Hi," she said a bit too giddily, barely acknowledged by her father's rather confused response, "We need to talk."

* * *

 **Coast City, June 2044**

It all began on a warm June morning as the two sisters, Nora and Dawn, walked down the street to visit their mother, Iris. The twin sisters may have shared the same face, but that was where the similarities ended.

Nora was the more mature of the two, clad in a plaid flannel jacket, plain white shirt, and simple blue jeans, her brown hair cut short. Out of the two, Nora was the one who always kept to herself, focused intently upon her academics and often very much opposed to stepping out of line. She was typically one to think things over insightfully, and as a child did everything in her power to make her constantly sad mother proud of her. She kept her head down, opting to avoid drama and trouble. Dawn, however, was the complete opposite of her sister.

Dressed in a retro arcade tank top and form fitting ripped black jeans and sporting a fishtail braid of slightly dyed auburn hair, Dawn looked much different than the woman walking next to her. Dawn was a quirky science geek and the more outgoing of the two, easily making friends and attracting guys, which was not all that hard as she was very bubbly and knowledgeable in all sorts of pop culture—just the right amount of nerdy to make anyone like her. Dawn, however, had a streak of being impulsive, a very bad thing to be, given the powers that they possessed and what happened to those whose powers showed.

Yes, the two twins were nothing alike, so it only made sense that, as twenty-five year-olds, they almost never did anything together. This day, however, was an exception. Nora and Dawn always agreed to dedicate this day to spending their time with their mother, as this was the day that their father died.

"Do you think she'll finally tell us who he was?" Dawn asked her sister. It was always the same question each year, without fail. Nora always gave the same answer.

"No," she answered her sister bluntly. Iris didn't tell them anything about who their dad was, not even a name. Nora couldn't see why their mother would suddenly decide to tell them more if she hadn't done so already. All the twins knew about their father was that he died in a horrible accident—no specifics, no other details. They didn't even know his name, or what he looked like.

"She can't keep this from us much longer," Dawn huffed irritatedly. "What if he could have helped us?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, if he was… you know… one one of us?" Dawn clarified, swinging her arms as if she were running in slow motion.

"You know we aren't supposed to talk about it Dawn," her sister chided, anxiously peering around to ensure nobody had overheard them.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it sis, no one can know we have super spee—" Dawn started, cut off by her twin covering her mouth in a desperate, somewhat annoyed way.

"There are patrols all across the city, do you really want those A.R.G.U.S. freaks to send us to a meta-camp?" Nora loud whispered. "Let's just not talk about it."

"'Not talking about it' is something we do often, isn't it?" Dawn said, agitated. "Being forced to hide our abilities and knowing nothing about who our dad was—does that seem like a good life to you?"

"Of course not Dawn; it sucks. But it's the only way to survive. This country hates metahumans, which we were born as. Mom helped us to control our super speed, to not use it, for a reason. If you're not going to lie low for yourself, at least do it for her."

"I hate it when you do that," Dawn told her sister.

"Do what?"

"Make sense," Dawn said with a wry smile as the duo approached their mother's house. Despite knowing that her sister was still not completely over the topic of discussion, Nora shrugged off the urge to further chastise her sister on the potential consequences of delving into curiosity.

After knocking on the door and waiting for a few seconds, the sisters were still not met with an open door. Exchanging a worried look with Dawn, Nora fished into her pocket, pulling out the spare key. Twisting the key gingerly, she then softly pushed open the door to her family home.

As the two sisters walked down the hallway, there was nothing but eerie silence. Nora couldn't help but feel worry in the pit of her stomach. Today was usually a tough time for her mother; could she have finally snapped and done something drastic? The very thought made her shudder. She could even tell that Dawn sensed something was off, as her usually talkative and boisterous sister was now quiet, her mouth not curled up in a grin, nor formed in a pout, but in a nervous, straight line.

After gently pushing open the door, the two exhaled in relief upon seeing their mother asleep, arms clutched to her chest. Fresh tear trails were still evident on Iris West's face, showing the twins the vulnerable side of their mother that so few others got to see; unfortunately, crying was an all too common scene for the twins this time of year. However, upon closer inspection, the two noticed something wrapped in their mother's arms. Dawn reached for it and found herself looking at a picture frame. Her face suddenly warped into an expression of shock as she shakily handed it over to Nora.

Nora dropped the photo with a gasp, barely managing to catch it with an impulsive burst of her speed. In the photograph, her mother stood in a sunny, lush green park, her face so much happier and youthful than Nora had ever seen, clothed in the elegant white wedding dress every woman dreamed of. However, the sight of their mother as a young, beaming bride was not the cause for the twins' shock, but rather the lanky man standing beside her. The man had his arm around their mother's shoulders, an expression of pure bliss plastered across his achingly wide smile, his tuxedo pristine perfection. What really got the twins' attention, however, were the man's eyes—a magnificent hazel, like theirs.

Suddenly everything clicked. They had learned about this man in school, of how science had warped him into a "self-righteous hero" and also from protesters who used him as a symbol for the pro meta movement. They had also heard their mother speak highly of how their father had been a selfless, compassionate man. Never would they have thought the Flash and their father were the same man.

"Our father is Barry Allen," Dawn said in awe. The words barely registered with Nora, as the very thought of being the daughter of such an icon overwhelmed her. All of a sudden, their speed made sense. Metahuman power was in their genes; they hadn't just manifested powers by accident as their mother had convinced them.

The twins were pulled out of their stupor as their mother stirred. The guilty look on her face said a thousand words to Nora. "I didn't mean for you two to find out this way."

* * *

A/N: I came up with this idea over the summer, and the thought process behind it is pretty convoluted, so I'll explain. All throughout her season 4 appearances, Nora wore a braid, then in the finale she had short hair. In the finale, she also seemed a bit more reserved and mature. From this I came up with the idea of Dawn Allen being a twin of Nora. I then mixed it with the idea from Legends of Tomorrow about metahumans being persecuted in the future, which I believe we saw when Zari was introduced (though I may be wrong).

Before more chapters go up, I just want to say that from what I've seem of Season 5, some of my ideas have already been used in some way or fashion, but I do plan to change things up. Nothing after Flash 4x23 is canon for this story, and there will be one surprise thing from Arrow season 7 that I will change in the distant future of Twins Out of Time.

Please review for more! I have chapter 2 written down and just need to type it! Also expect my next Speak Now story chapter Tuesday at the latest if you discovered me from there.


	2. Chapter 2

**Coast City, June 2044**

"You kept this from us," Dawn said accusingly, her gaze towards her mother venomous. "How could you?" To say she felt betrayed was an understatement. Her and Nora were grown women, and yet their mother still felt that keeping something like this from them was the right thing to do? What a load of crap.

"Calm down. I'm sure she has a reason," Nora said, putting her hand on Nora's shoulder, only to have it shrugged off.

"Nora's right. I do have an explanation. You just need to listen to me," Iris told Dawn tiredly. Out of the two, Dawn was the one Iris dreaded revealing the truth to. "Let me start from the beginning."

"How did you meet him?" Nora asked.

"We were good family friends as far back as I can remember," Iris said, affording a small smile as she recalled the memory of a younger, happier Barry. However, it didn't last. "When his mother was murdered and his father was falsely charged of the crime, Barry moved in with me and your grandfather, Papa Joe. He was pretty much my adopted brother. It took me a long time to see him as anything besides that. Two years into his career as the Flash, I finally realized what we had." For a time, the twins looked at their mother intently, seeing a mixture of sadness and nostalgia painted across her features.

"Tell us more," Nora gently urged her, wanting to break the silence.

"What was he like?" Dawn asked.

"He was the bravest, most compassionate man I ever knew. He was always hopeful, willing to see the good in every horrible person or calamitous situation. He was always willing to put himself in harm's way for others," Iris said, once again allowing a momentary sad smile to escape. "He was a symbol of good-heartedness for Central City. He was the hero everyone needed."

"Then he died in Clifford DeVoe's satellite crash twenty-six years ago. That's the accident you wouldn't tell us about. The dates match." Dawn spoke in a voice that was hollow—accusatory. Iris felt her heart sink; this is what she had feared. Nora saw her mother's crestfallen, remorseful expression, and felt a rush of empathy towards her.

"Dawn…" she warned her sister, but to no avail. Dawn looked like she was ready to breathe fire, but luckily, Iris chose to ignore her daughter's irritance for the time being.

"Yes, the satellite. I'm sure you've heard the story enough in school. He punched it, and the force of the explosion killed him, as well as about a hundred or so civilians. That accident was what inspired the metahuman outlaw act," Iris continued. "I found out a couple weeks after your father died that I was pregnant. As the months progressed and newly approved anti-metahuman laws came into effect, I feared for your lives. I didn't want you two to grow up with targets on your back.

"I contacted a friend of Barry's, John Diggle, and asked him for help. He got me to his wife Lyla Michaels, the director of A.R.G.U.S. at the time. I called in a favor, asking if you two could be cleared from A.R.G.U.S.'s meta database. She did it as a family friend, and your birth documentation was modified by her as well, naming your father as a man named Julian Aldrich instead of Barry Allen. Not long after I gave birth, I decided to leave Central City and come West to escape the pain of missing him."

"Mom, I'm so sorry…" Nora said, wrapping an arm around her mother's shoulders. She'd done so much for them, but Nora didn't know she'd done all of this to ensure them a future. The power of their mother's love for them overwhelmed her.

Dawn didn't feel the same way. "Why not just tell us?" She sounded cold. Nora couldn't help but feel agitated that her sister could be so inconsiderate and spiteful.

"Everything I've done has been to protect you," Iris implored. "I would never lie to you unless it was for your own good."

"That's not your call to make anymore!" Dawn was now practically shouting. "Nora and I are adults now! We don't need to be coddled! We don't need protection!"

"Dawn, quit it!" Nora said, feeling herself get angry with her sister's stubbornness. Dawn didn't seem to notice.

"You need protection from yourself. More than you think," Iris snapped. "You especially. You're too much like your father for your own good."

"What is wrong with that?" Dawn asked, exasperated. "He was a hero! He averted multiple crises! He saved so many lives!

"Yes, but he couldn't save his own." Iris inhaled sharply, calming herself down. "What Barry did was a courageous way to live, but he lost his life because of heroics. You both know how broken I still am over his death. I am still not over that loss. You two are my daughters and all I have left of your father. I cannot lose either one of you, whether that be because you're incapacitated by A.R.G.U.S. for using your powers, or one of you loses your life being a hero."

Iris was now trembling at the thought of losing her daughters. Nora rubbed her back sympathetically, her own eyes watery with love and hurt for her mother. "It's okay Mom. We understand," Nora whispered reassuringly, yet still Dawn vehemently disagreed.

"Nora may understand, but I don't," Dawn spat. Nora shook her head with a disapproving look, one that wordlessly said 'not now Dawn.' It was a look Dawn was all too used to seeing, and, as per usual, she ignored her sister. "All I've ever wanted is to stop living in fear, for metahumans like me to not be seen as dangerous freaks that need to be separated from others. I want to be a hero and do something with the powers I have, and now I know my father was the greatest hero of all. You keep saying you don't want to lose me, mom, but you already have. You've suppressed my full potential, and I can't let you do that to me anymore."

Without allowing Nora or Iris to get a word in edgewise, Dawn zipped off in a flair of purple and gold lightning. "I cannot believe her," Nora huffed.

"Go get her," Iris said. This was exactly the sort of reckless thing she feared Dawn would do. "Let's hope you can stop her before she does something she regrets."

* * *

Here's my first post of 2019! I think I've got the ball rolling with this story; I currently have a general plot overview in my docs now. Please review and tell me what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

**Coast City, June 2044**

Nora wasn't surprised by Dawn's reaction. A part of her even slightly agreed with her sister. That didn't help the fact that she was absolutely livid with her for doing something so stupid. Dawn hadn't stormed off like that since they were children—not that Nora thought her twin had ever really grown up at all in the first place. When the twins were kids, A.R.G.U.S. initially struggled to handle metahumans, but now they were much more lethal with how they handled things.

Luckily, Nora knew where her sister would be. It was a very predictable place that Dawn tended to go to whenever she was pissed as a kid. As was expected, Nora found Dawn at the abandoned Ferris racetrack downtown, and, as per usual, Dawn was running laps around the speedway. It brought back a lot of memories for Nora. Back when they were still reckless with their powers and were angry with their mother, the two would come to the track and race for an hour or so, blissfully unaware of how lucky they were to have never been caught. Nora shook her head to rid herself of the memory, reminding herself the importance of why they were there.

"Dawn could you just knock it off?" Nora asked loudly. As nostalgic as the scene was, Nora was now too mature to enjoy something so reckless. It was something the more rebellious Dawn had convinced her to do in their formative years, but it now irritated her that her sister could still be so childish and carefree as an adult. "You can't always run away from your problems."

A streak of purple and gold lightning fizzled out in front of Nora as Dawn came to a stop, arms crossed defiantly. "Yeah? I think I just did," Dawn said antagonistically. Nora resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Her sister sounded like a bratty school girl.

"You can't keep running. Not forever," Nora sighed resignedly.

"I damn well can if I want to. It's not up to anyone but me Nora. It's my right to know where I come from."

"This is exactly why mom didn't want to tell us Dawn. She knew you'd get all emotional about it. Just cool it for a bit and let's rationalize this with mom at home."

"So what? You take her side now?" Dawn scoffed in exasperation. "Of course I get to be emotional about this. It's my life. Our life! She lied to us. How can you justify what she did?"

"I'm not completely defending her, but you have to understand why she did it Dawn. It's not like we live in the safest place."

"We are adults now! She's doesn't get to treat us like kids! We can take care of ourselves."

"God, could you quit being so damn—" Nora stopped.

"So damn what? If you have something to say, say it!" Dawn huffed, eyes narrowed and fists clenched. "Well? Come on spit it ou—"

"Shut up! Just…do you hear that?" Nora said, straining her ears. At first she thought the dull buzzing was her imagination, but when Dawn's eyes widened in surprise, Nora knew what was going on.

"Damn it," Dawn swore under her breath. A metahuman patrol drone. Nora bit back an 'I told you so' as Dawn flashed her a look of desperation. If she hadn't run off, the two of them wouldn't have been in this predicament. The drone probably traced the dark matter emanating from the area. 'Way to screw us over Dawn,' Nora thought to herself.

"What are we going to do?" Dawn asked. Nora noted the sudden absence of anger in her sister's voice. This how they'd always been. Whenever Dawn got into trouble, it was all up to her more mature twin to figure out the solution. Some things would never change.

"We can't run. If we do, we'll definitely give ourselves away," Nora said, contemplating. "We have to stay here or generally close by. That's our safest bet."

"Well we can't just stay out in the open," Dawn hissed as the buzzing of the drone grew louder. "They see us, we'll be brought in and processed. A.R.G.U.S. won't let us off the hook just because we say we're not metas!" Nora figured this was right, and her brain kicked into overdrive, eyes flitting around, mind racing a mile a second, looking for any way out of the mess they'd gotten into. Then her eyes caught the sight of the raceway benches near them.

"Follow me…don't use your speed," Nora told her sister. Too scared to scoff at being ordered around by her sister, Dawn followed Nora's example as the two quickly creeped over to the bleachers. Nora then crawled underneath the seats and beckoned for Dawn to follow. The braided girl huffed, reluctant to get her jeans dirty, but crawled under the seats with her sister nonetheless as Nora rolled her eyes. Even in the face of imminent danger Dawn could be so ridiculous sometimes.

As the seconds dragged on agonizingly slow, the twins held their breath, following the sound of the buzzing as the drone circled around the empty raceway. For a few fearsome minutes, the twins knelt together in silence, hoping so badly that that drone wouldn't peer under the shadows underneath the bleachers. For a few seconds, the sound of the drone emanated right in front of their hiding spot. Then, miraculously, the drone's buzzing slowly started to fade away. They hadn't been spotted. Nora exhaled in relief, then smacked Dawn in the arm.

"Ow!" Dawn yelped, breaking the silence. "What was that for?"

"For being stupid! We almost got caught!" Nora admonished. "Come on. We'll call a cab back over to moms house. We've risked enough as it is. Running home would just push our dumb luck over the edge."

* * *

 **Unknown location, June 2044**

The twins got home about fifteen minutes after the encounter at the raceway. They thought they were safe, but they were oh so wrong. Sitting in front of his array of screens, watching through the eyes of his dozen or so drones, the Hunter smiled triumphantly. The two girls failed to notice his drone was still there after they left their hidey hole—the cloaking capabilities were cutting edge and top secret; unknown to the general public. The Hunter was one of the few who had access these advanced drones, which made him a trustworthy assassin for hire for A.R.G.U.S.

What really excited him about these two women specifically is that they were speedsters. No speedsters had ever been around since the Flash died. If he could incapacitate these twins and bring them to A.R.G.U.S., he'd be looking at a hefty payday. He'd have more money than he could think to do with. The hunter shut off his monitors and dragged himself to bed, aware that he wouldn't get too much sleep in the coming hours. Before he finally succumbed to rest, he took a look at the polished black compound bow hanging across from this bed. Tomorrow, the hunt would begin.

* * *

Hey all, I know it's been a while since I've posted a new chapter for this story. It's been a busy few months for me but I'll have plenty of time to write soon. Like I said, I have the plot outline for this story and it's all just about writing each chapter with more detail. I don't know how many people are interested in this story, so please let me know if you'd like me to update it by leaving a review!


	4. Chapter 4

**Coast City, June 2044**

Nora wasn't surprised that Iris took a long time to say something to Dawn as soon as the twins walked into the house. This was the first time since high school that Dawn had done something so impulsive out of pure spite to their mother. Iris simply stared at the braided girl with a very conflicted look—Nora, very much used to reading the subtle emotional nuances of her mother, detected a mixture of empathy, guilt, and irritation. Still, she knew her mother well. Iris was not going to go easy on Dawn.

"I don't know how you can be such a child," Iris said, glaring at Dawn. "It goes without saying that what you did was—"

"Yeah yeah, I already heard this crap from sis," Dawn scoffed, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes. "Don't bother repeating yourself."

"You need to grow up," Nora said. "We almost got caught because of you being stubborn." Seriously? She'd almost gotten them captured and this was how she was acting?

"You're just deflecting the problem at hand," Dawn said. "Look…what I did was impulsive, sure, but can you really blame me? She kept a part of our identity from us for _years!_ " Dawn pointed accusingly at their mother, her anger once again returning.

"You need to think Dawn," Iris shot back. "This just _proves_ my point."

"This isn't about me. It's about you lying to my sister and I," Dawn said.

"For God's sake, Dawn," Nora said, exasperated, but knowing it would do little to affect her sister's temperament. "Just give her a break. She wanted to protect us."

"We can't be her babies forever. We are _adults_ , Nora. Stop defending her treating us like children."

"Well start acting like an adult, Dawn," Iris snapped. "You almost got you and your sister killed for your severe lack of judgement."

"You're one to talk about lack of judgement," Dawn shot back venomously. "Stop making this about me. Stop putting the blame on me. This is _your_ fault. You lied to us, _you're_ to blame for why I _hate_ you."

As soon as the last three words left Dawn's mouth, Nora knew her sister had made a mistake. Hearing a whimper, she looked at her mother and saw her angry, defensive facade crumbling. In its place was a heartbroken woman sinking into tears, trembling and defeated. Neither Nora nor Dawn knew what to say or do. Dawn simply looked down at her shoes, guilty and painfully aware she'd taken things too far for comfort.

"I'm t-trying…okay?" Iris said tearfully. "Do y-you honestly th-think it was easy Dawn? Concealing a p-part of my daughters' l-lives from them? B-because it w-wasn't." By now, Iris was full on sobbing. Nora wrapped her mother in a hug, rubbing her back soothingly, as Iris closed her eyes, calmed down, and continued speaking. "I loved him, you know. You guys need to know that. He was the world to me, and I was proud of him more than anything or anyone in my life. But after he was gone, I…couldn't bear to lose anyone else I loved. Especially not you two. You're all that I have left of him…"

"We understand mom," Nora said. "It's okay…" But Dawn still remained silent. After all this, her sister was still seething with bitterness towards their mother. Nora couldn't understand her twin. How could she be so full of malice? Nora glared at her sister, wordlessly willing her to apologize to their mother, to finally put this emotionally taxing day to rest. Dawn refused to meet Nora's gaze.

Iris pulled away from her embrace with Nora, looking at Dawn and sighing resignedly. "I know it's a lot to process. I don't expect you to understand. You don't have children. But whenever you're ready to talk about it, Dawn…I'll be there." And with that, Iris headed back to her room and closed it, probably to sleep. As soon as the door shut, Nora whirled around and looked at her sister, upset.

"You can be a real bitch Dawn, you know that?"

"At least I know what I want," she said, in an almost emotionless manner, save for the crack in her voice. She looked up, matching her sister's intense gaze with a stubborn stare of her own.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means at least I'm not the one being a complete suck-up. At least I have something that I believe in."

"Dawn—"

"Because all my life, I've always thought that these powers meant something. That I was given the gift of speed for a reason. I felt that one day, maybe it would all make sense, that I'd finally begin to understand why I was born a speedster. And now I know. I'm the Flash's daughter, and being a hero is in my genes. I've always wondered who would stand up for metahumans and make things better for our people…well, maybe it's us Nora. And mom took that choice away from us, because she knew what we would do. What our father, the Flash, would have done, if he were put in this situation. She didn't want us to get hurt or killed, but it's not her choice anymore. It's ours. And I want to be a hero…make the world a better place. Can't you understand that?" By now, Dawn was looking imploringly to her sister, a single tear sliding down her cheek.

What shocked Nora is that she actually understood what her sister meant. She even sympathized with how her sister felt. When it was put that way, it made sense. They were given powers, and with that came a responsibility, and the means to do great good for the world. But Nora didn't know if this was worth it. Did she want to be a hero? Help others while putting her own life at risk? Wasn't she content already with the life she had? Did she really need to be a hero? Couldn't she just stay regular old Nora West? She couldn't help but realize that her sister had read her like a book. She really _didn't_ know what she wanted.

"Dawn…I don't—" Nora started, before the sound of the window shattering filled the room.

* * *

I finally updated, hells yes! I plan to complete this story, no matter how long it takes. I just want to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter and showed the story a lotta love. I appreciate you all and I can't wait to continue this story and see everyone's reactions. I've got big plans and I'm excited for you all to see! Please review and let me know what you thought of this chapter and what the ending means for our two favorite twins. Thanks for reading, see you all next chapter!


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